Abstract

Venous thromboembolic disorders (VTE) are serious disorders with high morbidity and mortality rates. Many genetic and acquired risk factors were identified to cause VTE The most common genetic risk factor is Factor V Leiden mutation (FVL). FVL was found in high percentage of populations of Caucasian origin but was almost absent in non-Caucasians. It was also reported in populations living in North Africa and the Middle East. This review article briefly explains FVL and how it causes VTE, the distribution of FVL worldwide, and then it elaborates on the epidemiology of FVL in the Mediterranean Region and how this brought speculations that FVL might have originated in the Eastern Mediterranean area.

The Mediterranean Journal of Hematology and Infectious Diseases [eISSN 2035-3006]is owned by the U.C.S.C. and it is published by Mattioli 1885, Fidenza, Italy.The MJHID is indexed and abstracted in Science Citation Index Expandedand Journal Citation Reports/InCites beginning with V. 7 (1) 2015.